I make my way into Walmart about once a year, and that occasion happened to fall this week. I was specifically looking for a KidSongs dvd since my sister told me she has seen them at Wally World for $1. We’ve checked out the two copies our library has a couple of times, so I figured if we could own our own for a buck, I’d make my annual trip to that store. I did find this dvd for $1, and also stumbled upon a Jesus Action Figure for only $14.99. I’d seen them and laughed at them at Terra Toys before, but I *was* in Walmart, so the subliminal messages got to me and I bought it.

Driving home in the car, Caroline pushed the button on his back several times. “I love him!” she cooed. Jesus AF recites John 3:16 and also tells the story of the miracle of loaves and fishes. After a few tellings, Caroline told me she didn’t like Jesus’s voice.

Now, for those of you thinking Walmart was selling Jesus, Amanda. Your beloved Target wouldn’t do that. Notice the link above — Target sells Jesus, too. Anything to make a buck, man. And I don’t know that it’s all that noble to sell Jesus to the masses.

I already knew there was another Amanda Fowle. I search Bindel, too, and found there is one Amanda Bindel. Now, is that me since I do use the name on occasion? I doubt it. So I guess even if I changed my name I wouldn’t be the one and only.

As a child living outside of a small-town city limits, I did not have access to a public library. I talked my mom a few times into taking me to the Vidor Public Library (which even now has no internet presence), but I couldn’t check anything out because I didn’t have a library card. The whole library world just seemed like such a cosmopolitan thing that I fantasized about it. (Yeah, I’ve always been a nerd.) So of course, I got into the whole library thing. I worked at the library in college. I considered becoming a librarian (until I volunteered in one shelving books.) I’ve find the right role for libraries in my life now, though, as a mother.

Caroline and I make a weekly (sometimes more) journey to the library. We enjoy the library’s programs, like story-times, guest appearances (we saw Mother Goose and several kids’ singers this summer), book check-out, cd check-out, dvd check-out. And now we’ve discovered another fun item to borrow from the library — ART PRINTS!

At the Cedar Park Public Library, you can check out prints of artwork for one month at a time. I just rearranged our wall hangings and had empty space above the fireplace. Not any more! My plan is to expose Caroline to a different piece of art each month. Our first acquisition? Look at my blog header — Mary Cassatt’s Breakfast in Bed. I plan to switch out our fireplace painting each month. How’s that for frugal and educational?

Now, some of you astute readers are saying to yourself. “Um…you live in Austin, not Cedar Park.” Right you are! I prefer the CP library to the APL branches near us, so I got a TexShare card that allows me to get library cards of other public libraries in Texas. It’s a beautiful system!

Stayed up last night to finish it. Really enjoyed it. Read only if you want a good, hard cry!

Will continue my Hot Picoult Summer with whatever of hers (if anything) I can find available at the library this week. I can’t remember and can’t figure out which digits on my library card constitute my library id to put the one and only book that is currently available on hold.